Oct 16, 2012

An objective, rational person would think that the GOP and Mitt Romney specifically would be embarrassed at effectively having zero percent of the black vote in the 2012 presidential election. I mean really, I would be embarrassed. The idea of being unable to appeal to any voting bloc should be a signal that something is wrong with the campaign. Instead of being embarrassed though, they just treat it as a lost cause or chalk it up to this idea that black people are voting based solely on race and seemingly that will not ever change. Instead of recognizing that every vote matters, especially in a close race, and trying to appeal to the African American electorate, the GOP tries to caricature the entire voting bloc as blind loyalists to the first black president. Personally, I am offended because I am an independent voter. My vote is not automatic. Yes I declared my support early for President Obama. Him being black is icing on the cake, but not the cake itself. I am willing to listen to a coherent argument. I have voted for Republicans, Democrats and Independents. I have never voted a straight ticket. I think it is shameful that GOP has catered so far to the right that I feel compelled to vote a straight ticket so important work can actually be accomplished in all levels of government. I would prefer that the work be done with the GOP, but they have drawn their line in the sand and I have to choose for the work to be done without them.

They take no responsibility for not appealing to black voters. The lackluster, disengenious address to the NAACP was an appeal to the GOP base and those who view race and discrimination superficially. Some will claim that the former governor was sincere in his address. Well that sincerity was immediately contradicted when he alluded to his donors that all blacks wanted was "free stuff." The GOP has insulted the African American electorate in more ways than one. With the key insult being the total disrespect for the President. The GOP would have garnered much more support from the black community had they chosen to work with the President instead of opposing him at every turn. That would have gone a long way in showing that race indeed does not matter. Perhaps black voters would have more hope that the GOP would take their concerns seriously, because they took the first black president seriously. Instead, a congressman calls him a liar during the State of the Union address; they did not squelch the birther movement; they continuously race bait; and now they are employing voter suppression and intimidation tactics. Those are just few examples.

I have said it before and I will say it again...the genius of the 2008 Obama campaign was that he appealed to everybody. He energized the disaffected and the cynical. People felt like their voices mattered and saw that their vote does in fact make a difference. The same principal can be applied to the Romney campaign, but they have chosen to reject it and have thus lost the support of a significant voting bloc. But according to them, the problem lies within the African American electorate. According to them, we just are not open-minded enough to vote for Romney. Yet all the while they are clearly closed-minded towards us. They have defined our vote how they see fit and whine because the black vote is yet again going for the democratic candidate and current president, Barack Obama. It doesn't have to be this way, but their actions say otherwise and my response to their whining is get over it!